Rebels could blow up 'half of Colombo' - Sri Lankan PM

Sri Lankan government claims the Tamil Tiger rebels have rigged up a truck with over a tonne of explosives that could blow up half of Colombo.

Sri Lankan government on Sunday claimed the Tamil Tiger rebels have rigged up a truck with over a tonne of explosives that could blow up half of Colombo.

"The explosives in that truck were enough to blow up half of Colombo. We are told that there is second truck with the same quantity of explosives," Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake said.

The information regarding the truck followed the discovery of over 1,000 kilograms of plastic explosives hidden in a truck last week, he said.

Authorities were on the lookout for the truck, he said.

The rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) has been held responsible for a spate of bomb attacks in the capital and elsewhere during their decades-long separatist campaign.